Boss SP-1 Spectrum

Oct 15, 2018Tim Green

The Boss SP-1 Spectrum was one of the first 3 Boss compact pedals produced (along with the PH-1 and OD-1). The SP-1 is a single band parametric EQ that boosts "muddy" frequencies that can get lost in a mix. The SP-1 can also be used to create a cocked wah effect due to it's mid-range bump. Unlike the OD-1 and PH-1, the SP-1 was more popular with keyboardists and bassists than guitarists.

Sales of the SP-1 were slow and only around 10,000 of them were produced before it was discontinued.

The Spectrum knob controls the frequency range (between 500hZ and 5kHz and the Balance knob shifts the peak of the Spectrum frequency..​​Produced from November ​1977 until November 1981.

The SP-1 box (if you can find one..) has a formatting error and is labelled as "SPectrum". ​

Like the CE-1 Chorus, the name and tonal concept behind the Spectrum comes from a Roland amplifier. The Roland SR-120 featured a knob labelled "Spectrum" that was used to shift the overall tone of the amp (alongside the amps 3 band EQ). The design team at Boss believed this to be an interesting idea for a stompbox and later released it as one of their first compact pedals.